During Holidays, I’m always torn on which dish to cook/bring, especially because my family tends to go overboard for holidays, especially on the carbs and sweets – Do I go healthy and make something that I know I will like and not feel gross afterwards? Or do I consider this a “treat day” and bring something that everyone will like and is a little less healthy?
I tend to try to stick with the first option and make it an app so that I can snack healthily until dinner, this way I don’t have to worry about my dish complimenting the dinner courses. This is a win-win because I won’t feel gross and stuffed come dinner time and I leave myself a little room to “indulge” in something a little less healthy, like the marshmallow stuffed sweet potatoes or candied almond green beans and a glass of wine! Balance is key 🙂
Veggies are such an easy thing to continuously snack on, without feeling stuffed, especially during the holidays. I tend to fill my appetizer plate with a bunch of veggies and maybe a little dip and then grab one or two fun things.
This year for Easter, I decided to go with a fun appetizer! I’m a huge fan of making Pinterest pins come to life. Really trying to capture the holiday, I thought it would be festive to have it set up on a platter resembling a bunny, plus it makes the “healthy dish on table” look more appealing :). We usually stay away from breads, so we will not consume any ourselves today, but for the sake of presentation and others who will, I used it in this recipe. I used Gimmesomeoven’s spinach and artichoke dip recipe. You probably have most of these ingredients already in your pantry, which makes this dip my favorite ‘go-to’ for parties and last minute get togethers.
INGREDIENTS:
Veggies/Presentation:
- 2 Cucumbers, sliced
- 1 bag of Carrots, halved or into chips
- 1 Bread Bowl
- Celery, halved
- 2 Green Pepper, sliced
- 2 red pepper, sliced
- 2 baguettes
Spinach and Artichoke Dip:
- 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 (13.75 oz.) can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped and drained
- 1 cup light sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 oz. low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 oz. (about 1 cup) shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup finely-chopped onions
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. salt
DIRECTIONS:
Cooking:
- Preheat oven to 350 °
- Stir all ingredients together in an oven safe bowl
- Transfer bowl to oven and bake for 20-25 mins, or until cheese starts to brown
- While the spinach and artichoke dip is cooking, Cut and wash all veggies.
Assembly:
- Cut out a circular hole in the bread bowl
- Save the “top” and use this as the head of the bunny
- Scoop out the excess bread
- Place the Bread Bowl on a baking sheet/deep dish that is wrapped in foil. Next, place the “top” of the bread bowl and position as the head. Next, place the baguettes as the bunny ears.
- Scatter the cut veggies around the bunny shape. You can julienne celery and use it for whiskers!
- Spoon the spinach and artichoke dip into the bread bowl.
- Dip and Enjoy 🙂
Do you have a go-to appetizer or a spinach and artichoke dip recipe that you love? What are you bringing/making this Easter? We want to know, leave us a comment below 🙂
How festive!!
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Looks inviting!
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